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How to make your own terrarium

mich1972
Kind of a Big Deal

How to make your own terrarium

Morning friends. If you want to make a beautiful handmade Living Gift for someone special OR if you have a party at home coming up and you want to make a table feature. Plant up a Glass Terrarium of your choice. Make it EASY CARE using plants like Succulents and Air Plants.

 

Number one rule when planting up a Terrarium .......... ALWAYS use Horticultural Charcoal as your first layer and then Propagation Sand as your second layer and then African Violet mix as your planting media. The horticultural Charcoal is really important as it acts as a filter and stops the soil going stagnant if accidentally overwatered.

 

With Terrariums you never pour water into it , you use a spray bottle with water and water only as required.

 

It certainly doesn’t need to be filled with plants , make it more interesting by adding a candle , timber , bamboo stakes , pebbles , whatever you want !!!!

 

Remember every Terrarium is unique and different and most importantly it’s your Living Artwork so make it yours 🌿🌿💚💚

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Jason
Community Manager
Community Manager

Re: How to make your own terrarium

Fantastic @mich1972. I'm sure this will help and inspire many Workshop members. Great work and many thanks for sharing.

 

Jason

 

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Re: How to make your own terrarium

awesome!
Jason
Community Manager
Community Manager

Re: How to make your own terrarium

Thanks for joining in the discussion on Workshop @gifurung. Great to have you join us. We are looking forward to reading about your own projects and plans? Perhaps a terrarium? 

 

Feel free to post anytime you need a hand or have something to share. We have clever and creative members sharing projects and helpful advice on the site every day.

 

Jason

 

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Re: How to make your own terrarium

thank you Jason! glad to be here and excited to learn from all your experiences and work of art!
mich1972
Kind of a Big Deal

Re: How to make your own terrarium

Thank You Jason 😊

wolfies69
Getting Established

Re: How to make your own terrarium

Morning Jason

I have a 430 litre fish tank built into the wall of our home. It measures 1800mm x 600mm x 450mm. At this stage I'm over all the issues and problems with maintaining it as a fish tank and I'm very interested in other options such as creating a Terrarium.

 

I read the article above about the type of sand, charcoal to use etc which I found very useful but is there anything else I should be considering before I embark on such a project?

 

Thanks for any assistance.

 

Regards

 

Peter

 

PS - not completely sure if I will ever see your answer given I found this page accidentally.

Re: How to make your own terrarium

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community Peter (@wolfies69). It's fantastic to have you join us and many thanks for your question.

 

Let me mention @mich1972 as she is the resident terrarium expert. 

 

Does the fish tank have any plant grow lights on it? If it doesn't receive natural lighting you might like to use a Home Grown Indoor Umbrella Grow Light as supplement lighting. You will also want to decide on what type of biome your terrarium is going to be and select plants with similar requirements. Desert scapes are by far the easiest, however, I am fascinated by rain forest scapes and moss/lichen covered mediums.

 

You should find this step-by-step guide helpful: How To Make A Terrarium.

 

I look forward to seeing what you create with your fish tank. Please let us know if you need any assistance and keep us updated on your project.

 

Mitchell

 

 

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Re: How to make your own terrarium

Hi Mitchell and thanks for your reply.

To answer your questions first:

1.The fish tank is embedded in the wall. The front of the tank is flush with the inside wall. The whole structure sits on the concrete floor slab (as part of the original house slab) jutting out to house the tank. The tank is accessed from the rear via a 2100 x 900mm door. It doesn't get natural light (even if the external door was left open however it does have 2 x 800mm aquarium lights offset above the tank. The tank measures 1800m in length, 600mm in height and 450mm wide.

 

My thinking is to get a small stand alone fish tank to relocate the remaining fish and catfish before then embarking on converting the fish tank.

 

Yes, I'm with you in that a rain forest setting would be absolutely ideal but probably outside my capabilities.

 

The entire project is a little bit daunting given I'm in my seventies and don't have a great deal of free time albeit I'd love to be involved with the conversion.

 

Do you know of any such "expert" who might be interested in a project of this type? I would be happy to pay for such an experienced person to complete the job but have no idea where I would find such a person.

 

I'm located in Pacific Paradise on the Sunshine Coast.

 

Grateful for any assistance.

 

Peter

 

Re: How to make your own terrarium

Peter (@wolfies69),

 

I very much doubt if a rainforest terrarium would be outside your capabilities. It doesn't need to be that dramatic to start with as you can build on it over time. You can simply start with a few nice looking pieces of driftwood and attach air plants whilst bromeliads and ferns can be planted. There is a whole range of plants for terrariums including Various Terrarium Plants and the Assorted Step-Ables Groundcovers would be great too.  A bit of sphagnum moss or any moss from around your garden and it will start to take shape. It's really very easy. 

 

We have a range of UN-REAL 100 x 100cm Luxury Artificial Hedge Tile which could be used as the backdrop and then real plants and driftwood could be added in front.

 

There are hundreds of step-by-step tutorials on Youtube about how to make terrariums and I'd encourage you to get lost for hours in them. Another avenue that might lead to success is to see if there are any friendly bromeliads societies in your area or speak to the team in the gardening area at your local store. The D.I.Y. presenter I worked with previously had a passion for bromeliads and would create these fantastic vertical green walls out of them for classes on the weekend.

 

I'd be happy to assist you with this project and would encourage you to start your own discussion so we can delve further into how you can accomplish it.

 

Mitchell

 

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